The Neighborhood High School Girl, Miss Isezaki, Is the Great Saintess Returned from Another World~ And I, Suddenly Awakened as Her Exclusive Mana Supply Uncle, Travel Between Earth and Another World with Time-Space Magic~ - 180. Evening in the Bustling City

180. 180. 180. 180. Evening in the Bustling City

By the time we finished with Isezaki-san and Aihara’s fashion show and shopping at the mall, it was already evening. All that was left was to return to the station and head to the restaurant where our landlord was waiting for us, from the taxi stand.

I was quite looking forward to this, considering it was a place frequented by our wealthy landlord. It’s rare to have the chance to enjoy delicious Earth cuisine, even if I often get to eat tasty monster meat.

As we walked through the bustling city, thinking about the high-class meal we hadn’t seen yet, I noticed that Isezaki-san was also smiling.

“Isezaki-san, it seems like you had a lot of fun today,” I said.

“Yes, it was very enjoyable. I got along very well with Rio-san, and she learned a lot about me. Right, Rio-san?”

Isezaki-san turned the conversation to Aihara, who awkwardly twitched her mouth.

“Haha… learned a lot, or rather, stared into the abyss… Well, meeting Seina-chan helped me resolve some things, so it was good in the end, I think,” Aihara replied.

“Resolved things… Are you thinking of quitting the company? I can understand the feeling, but at least decide on your next job before quitting,” I said.

“I don’t want to hear that from a still-unemployed senpai, but that’s not what I meant. Besides, senpai, let me carry those bags,” Aihara said, clearly trying to change the subject.

She pointed at the paper bags I was holding in both hands. As I had told Marui, I was carrying the shopping bags for Isezaki-san and Aihara. By the way, although I did quite a bit of shopping myself at the mall, most of it was secretly stored in my [Storage], so it wasn’t as heavy as it looked.

“This much is no problem. Though I must say, you bought quite a lot.”

Aihara had gone on a shopping spree at the apparel store. While Isezaki-san bought a few things, Aihara’s purchases were several times more.

“I often go shopping with friends, but that usually ends up being outfits that appeal to girls. Since senpai was here, I thought it’d be nice to try a different style for a change.”

“You showed me various outfits, but my opinions as an old guy aren’t that useful, are they?”

“…Eh? Not really, or rather, senpai’s opinions are just right, actually… um, never mind…”

For some reason, Aihara mumbled while twisting her body, but then suddenly—

“Ugh,” she exclaimed, stopping in her tracks.

“What’s wrong? Did you step in dog poop?” I asked.

“Of course not. It’s them,” she said, pointing her chin across the street.

There were several men in an open car playing loud music, pointing at us and discussing something. When they noticed us looking, they got out of the car and started walking towards us. One of them looked familiar.

“Is that the guy who hit on you this afternoon?”

“It seems like him and his friends. Maybe they were looking for us or we just ran into them by bad luck. Either way, it’s annoying. We should get out of here.” 

“I agree with running, but can we escape?”

“This area is like my backyard, so no problem. Let’s go, senpai. Seina-chan, hurry!”

Aihara started running down the sidewalk. Although I had some doubts about whether it would really be okay, since Aihara had started running, we had no choice but to follow.

Isezaki-san and I nodded to each other and chased after Aihara.

◇◇◇

“Huff, puff, huff, puff…”

“Isezaki-san, are you okay!?” I asked.

After running for a while, Isezaki-san was drenched in sweat, staggering with unsteady steps. Oh right, Isezaki-san was extremely bad at physical exercise.

“What, Seina-chan!? We haven’t run that much yet!” Aihara exclaimed.

“Huff, huff, huff… I’m fine. Let’s go… ugh,” Isezaki-san said, struggling to keep up.

Isezaki-san was hunched over, retching. It seemed impossible to make her run any further. Looking around, I realized we had somehow ended up in an alley where we were hidden from public view. It was Aihara who had led us here.

“…Hey, Aihara. Why did we end up in this alley?” I asked.

“Sorry, Senpai! I just picked what looked like an easy route to run through!” she replied.

“I was a fool to trust you… And now it’s a dead end.”

The alley was blocked off ahead, leaving no escape route. What happened to this being her ‘backyard’? All I could do was sigh.

“…We need to turn back before they catch up—”

“There they are! Over here!” 

It seemed we were too late. I heard a man’s voice, and soon a group of young men entered the alley. Their hair was a mix of red, green, yellow, and other colors, each different and very vibrant. It reminded me of the color-coded characters from the superhero shows I watched as a kid.

“Damn it. Just trying to hit on some girls turned into a real workout. You owe us some fun now to make up for it,” said the first guy we encountered, wiping sweat from his forehead. His hair was red.

“Huh? We don’t care about that. We’re not interested, so just leave us alone.”

“Just come with us already. You don’t have a choice.”

The pickup artist was being quite aggressive. Maybe it was because he had a bunch of rough-looking friends with him now.

“Then how about I go with you for a bit? Let the old man and the schoolgirl go. That should be fine, right?” 

“No way. The schoolgirl is coming too. Actually, she’s the main attraction. The old man can leave if he doesn’t get in the way,” the red-haired guy said, gesturing toward the path behind us.

But that wouldn’t work for me.

“No, we have plans later. I can’t let you take them.”

“We don’t care about your plans, old man. If you interfere, you’ll have to deal with the consequences. Right, guys?”

“Sure, we’ll beat up the old man, but keep an eye out so no one calls the cops,” one guy said.

“Man, that schoolgirl is even cuter up close. I can’t wait to have some fun,” another added.

“Yeah, let’s deal with the old man and take them,” another agreed.

The group closed in on us. Aihara grabbed my arm, her voice shaking.

“Senpai, I appreciate the thought, but there’s no way we can handle this many. We’ll try to escape when we see an opening. You should go ahead for now—”

At that moment, Isezaki-san, finally recovering from her exhaustion, spoke up.

“Rio-san, calm down. It’s okay.”

“Huh? Seina-chan, what do you mean?” Aihara asked.

“Just leave everything to the gentleman. Right, sir?” Isezaki-san said, looking at me with a trusting smile.

“Well, I don’t really want to, but… I guess we have no choice,” I replied.

“Yes! Those who do not understand his greatness deserve to be punished with justice!” Isezaki-san declared.

“Wait, what are you talking about, Isezaki-san!?” Aihara exclaimed.

“Hey, old man. Are you really planning to fight us? We can’t go easy on you,” the red-haired guy taunted.

Isezaki-san’s eyes gleamed with excitement, while the colorful pickup artists grinned as they approached. It was clear they had no intention of letting us go. There was no other option but to confront them.

“Aihara, hold my bags for a moment,” I said.

“Wait, Senpai, what are you going to do!?” Aihara asked, looking between me and Isezaki-san, confused.

I handed Aihara my bags and stepped forward towards the pickup artists.